This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

No quick fix for Blue Jays

By Shi DavidiThe Canadian Press

Sun., Nov. 8, 2009

Alex Anthopoulos unveiled his long awaited blueprint for the Blue Jays on Saturday and a by-product of his ambitious philosophy is likely more waiting for fans desperate to see a winner.

The rookie GM's vision is to build a franchise that can consistently win 95 games on the principle of sustained success through scouting and player development.

That's no simple undertaking in the American League East, home of the freshly minted World Series champion New York Yankees and wild-card winning Boston Red Sox, and Anthopoulos is adamantly against trying to take shortcuts to leapfrog them through free agency.

The gist for fans seeking signs of hope and an imminent end to a post-season drought stretching back to 1993? Be patient, forget about free agent signings this winter to bolster the club, and prepare yourself, barring a miracle turnaround, for ace Roy Halladay's departure, if not via trade then as a free agent after the 2010 season.

"I know that everything we will do will be obviously to improve the team, but it won't be the quick fix, or it won't be to sacrifice the ability to have a long, sustained run of success here," Anthopoulos said on a conference call ahead of his first general managers' meetings, which start Monday in Chicago. "We're not going to put all our eggs in one basket ... for one year at taking a shot at success and then sacrificing four years down the road."

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

It's a sensible approach, but one unlikely to resonate with increasingly indifferent fans or sit well with Halladay's win-now mindset, pointing to a looming divorce.

While Anthopoulos, perhaps learning from predecessor J.P. Ricciardi's mistakes, wouldn't out and out say Halladay was on the block or put any time frame on when the Jays might be contenders again, you didn't need a magnifying glass to read between the lines.

"There are several players I'd be very reluctant to trade. That being said, I have to be open-minded to anything that could make this club better going forward," said Anthopoulos, adding later that: "(Halladay) stressed his timeline for winning and ours may not mesh and may not match."

Anthopoulos said he's more likely to be active on the trade market than in free agency this winter and that's likely to be the case until he feels the Jays need a player or two to put them over the top.

The challenge for the Jays appears to be how they'll sell tickets as they rebuild. They established a record low for attendance at the Rogers Centre/SkyDome when 11,159 attended Halladay's 4-1 loss to the Twins on Sept. 9, and their season total of 1,876,129 was their lowest since 2003, and well off last year's count of 2,400,416.

There's a chicken-and-the-egg argument to be had over whether you first spend money on players to get the crowds or wait for the crowds before you spend on players, but Anthopoulos believes that will all take care of itself.

He envisions the day when four million fans start streaming through the home turnstiles again and the Jays have a payroll approaching baseball's top five, somewhere around $120 million (U.S.).

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

"With respect to payroll, there's really no defined number going into next season ... ownership is fully committed to giving us the payroll if the right baseball opportunity presents itself," said Anthopoulos. "This place can be an incredible opportunity because the fan base is here, when we start winning the fans will come out, there's no doubt in my mind, and we do have the wherewithal with the market and with our ownership to keep our players going forward.

"We certainly can be up there with the Anaheims, the Chicagos and even with the Bostons. When we do get to the point where we are winning, we can sustain it."

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com